Suppose that 1) the Martians weren't killed off by disease germs, and 2) the artilleryman actually had the gumption to start his resistance movement and new human civilization with a handful of free survivors. What do you think his chances are? Please note that we're restricting ourselves to what's in the novel, not the musical, comic book, or any other versions.

In my mind, the biggest obstacle in the long run would be food. It's all very well to say they'll live off the canned and bottled foods and beverages left behind in homes, shops, etc., and of course this would be a relative handful of people living off what had been the supplies of a major metropolitan area, but the stuff would have to run out sooner or later, and then what? If they're living underground, I can't see them growing anything but mushrooms. Regular gardens require constant attention, which would mean spending far more time above ground than is safe. The same goes for herding livestock, to say nothing of the fact that the Martians would feed off them as well. Aside from rodents and other vermin, hunting would be out as well, though fishing might be an option in some areas.

From what I can tell, the most likely result of attempting the artilleryman's plans would be a mixing of novels, with the "free" human race gradually degenerating into something like the Morlocks from "The Time Machine" and relying on vermin and cannibalism to survive. That's my personal take on the matter, anyway. I'm throwing the topic wide open for discussion now. Sound off, guys!

I think farming livestock or fruit & veg would be out, man would have to revert to a hunter-gatherer status.
We may not look big on the maps but Britain is a large land mass with large areas still forested back then, so remaining hidden from the Martians could be done for quite a while.
If the Red-Weed survived as well we could probably eat that to help supplement our diet, The journalist didn't get sick from eating it he just said it had an unpleasant metallic taste.

Presumably the Martians would be farming humans for their blood supplies those people would need to eat, so there would be some form of farming going on, perhaps the feral people could raid these farms?

Raiding the Martian farms is out of the question. The artilleryman even specifically stated "Above all, we must leave the Martians alone. We mustn't even steal. If we get in their way, we clear out. Yes, I know, but they're intelligent things, and they won't bother us if they have all they want, and think we're just harmless vermin."

Since starting this thread last night, I had an inspiration. Why merely claim that the artilleryman's lot would become like the Morlocks? Maybe they will become the REAL Morlocks themselves! Remember, in "The Time Machine", the Time Traveler theorizes that the Eloi/Morlock faceoff was caused by the human civilization of the future, but he never actually saw this happen, as he never stopped off at this nearer time period. Just as logical to assume that the Eloi are Martian-bred humans, while the Morlocks are the "freedom fighters" who are now preying on them out of a combination of necessity and vengeance.

Consider: The Martians would hardly want to breed human livestock capable of putting up a fight, so big, strong "cattle" are out. Also, though humans are their food, they only ingest the blood, so they won't be breeding folks for providing well-marbled steaks and chops. Since the Martians themselves are bear-sized, perhaps the Eloi are humans bred for convenience: all the blood in one full-grown Eloi might be enough for a full "meal" for a single Martian. The Eloi may be the equivalent of a pack of ramen noodles or the like: a specially-made convenience food specifically designed for one meal.

The artilleryman's descendants apparently throve too well, as they have evidently eaten all the wild game of Britain into extinction. (The Time Traveler saw NO birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, or fish during his sojourn in futuristic Britain.) Thus, preying on the Eloi is all that is left to them. Apparently they have evolved into a purely carnivorous species that can only live on a high-protein diet of flesh, as we never hear of them eating any of the abundant fruits of the future.

So what happened to the Martians? Well, maybe the artilleryman's resistance movement managed to find a way to get rid of them, but I think Nature is responsible. Evolution is an on-going process, and although this scenario requires that there be no bacteria on Earth capable of wiping out the Martians at the time of the invasion, there is nothing to prevent the future evolution of an all-new germ that CAN overcome their defenses. The same goes for a natural blight that eventually appears to exterminate the Red Weed, as it is all gone by the time the Time Traveler shows up. What do you think?

I think you should read the "Earth After The War, a longish bit of prose, just for fun" thread, in the "Miscellaneous" section, a lot of this has already been discussed, you even contributed a couple of posts to that thread, it's there I suggested a link between TWOTW and the Time Machine, I said some one should write a book, pretty much as you have suggested above

Alland wrote:

Raiding the Martian farms is out of the question. The artilleryman even specifically stated "Above all, we must leave the Martians alone. We mustn't even steal. If we get in their way, we clear out. Yes, I know, but they're intelligent things, and they won't bother us if they have all they want, and think we're just harmless vermin."

Some one once said "Any civilized society is only three meals away from revolution" (or words to that effect) as soon as feral humans were hungry enough they would raid, what's the alternative? Die of starvation?

Alland wrote:

The artilleryman's descendants apparently throve too well, as they have evidently eaten all the wild game of Britain into extinction. (The Time Traveler saw NO birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, or fish during his sojourn in futuristic Britain.)

He said all the large animals had gone, but not all animals, after the Time Machine is stolen the time-traveler wakes up on the little lawn in front of the Sphinx and a couple of sparrows are hopping about in reach of his hand.

Alland wrote:

So what happened to the Martians?

You could have a Martian civil war that decimates the Martian population to such an extent that there are not enough left to put up a suitable resistance to a feral human attack, but that doesn't answer the disappearance of the Red Weed

What about the Martian structures? They would have built cities. The buildings that are around in the Time Machine are human built. The Library etc. The Time machine is a story about what time may do to man if man is not wise.
War of the worlds is about what would happen to man if he were invaded by a greater inteligence.

I think that some sort of human existence could go on under the Martian heel but in a very limited and worthless way. It would take time for thre Martians to occupy all of Earth. Many years probably. So in the places where the Martinan's take time to control, the governments of those places could formulate survival plans. I'm sure that in the places furthest from the Martians the humans there would become very good at preparing their chance ofg survival. Things could be grown under ground using powerful lights.
It all depends on how thourough the Martians intend to be. Do they allow wild humans to live on as we allow apes to live in parks. Or will they be suspicious of our future ability to create technbologies which may be used against them and as a result exterminate us.
Also the red weed may have been the first stages of a forced climate change to the Earth, which would have eventually rendered the atmosphere and climate intolerable to human existance.

H.G. Well's Martians were oxygen-breathers like us. As for whipping up a wonder weapon, scientists might capture a Martian and cross its blood with a native pathogen. Once that is done the Martians may be finished.

Also, after the fall of the Martians, men will examine the Martian tech and begin to unravel it. Eventually Man may start the Second War of the Worlds, bringing the War back to Mars by say...2001?

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